ReZolve People...Jack the Cycling Fanatic!

ReZolve has some great people working behind the scenes...and they seldom get their chance to be in the limelight...so we've put some 60 second interviews together...well, Jack has...he's done all the hard work.  Jack's a great guy and came to us as a Future Jobs Fund placement.  He did so well we offered him a job, doing what he does best, marketing and publicity...Jack was pretty nervous when I asked him to become an interviewer...but we think he's done a great job...

Is Social Enterprise really that confusing...

I got an email this weekend from the authors of a new book which aims to demystify social enterprise and help people to develop their own definitions of what a social enterprise is.

Is it me or have we inadvertently created an industry that surrounds social enterprise that justifies its existence through perpetuating the notion that there is ‘confusion about social enterprise’.

Does that confusion really exist....and does it really matter if it does.  Let’s be honest, how many people on the street know the difference between a PLC, a LTD company, or a Cooperative?

Surely what matters is that people understand the objectives of any company and its products or services...

I think there is a danger that in creating an industry around demystifying Social Enterprise, we ironically make it more complex!!

If I was writing a book about social enterprise and what it means....it would be a quick read, and probably a picture book!

Line  1 – Social Enterprises have positive social and/or environmental objectives

Line 2 – Social Enterprises reinvest their profits so they can do more good

Line 3 – Social Enterprises aim to be self-financing, not reliant on the state or grant funding.

Page 2 – Nice pretty pictures of Social Enterprises doing what they do....helping disadvantaged groups, protecting the environment, making great products.

KISS (Keep it simple, Stupid!)

Jon Rolls

Chief Executive

Cornwall unemployment rises: No surprises...

So why do we potentially face losing an award winning programme that gets long-term unemployed in to employment...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-12227844?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

The Cornwall Works for Social Enterprise programme, funded through ESF and delivered by a range of innovative Cornish Social Enterprises  has been heralded by many, and nationally by DWP! as best practice...collaboratively the programme will place nearly 500 people into employment at a success rate of well over the national average of 20%.

Moving the goal posts and delays in decisions on next rounds of funding means Cornwall faces losing the highly experienced staff that have been delivering this programme....and potentially organisations as well....

And guess what...you can bet your bottom dollar that the programme will have to start up again later in the year...meaning we all have to re recruit to get staff to deliver the programme...at what cost!

Sometimes it is very frustrating that 'business as usual', when it is performing very well, is not seen positively...and that we have to constantly re-create programmes, re-design them and generally tinker...and the only people that suffer are those that depend on the services and the organisations that deliver the work who offer so much other added value that doesn't get counted.

Rant over...its a lovely sunny day and I need to talk to our fantastic manager of a great little social enterprise solution to disabled children's incontinence issues....

Cornwall 170th out of 203 in UK Waste League Table

Cornwall came 170th in the UK Council League Table for Recycling and Residual Waste (waste to landfill) with a recycling rate of 37% compared to the England average of 39.7% and with waste to landfill per person at 328.8 kg per person per year compared to the England average of 277.6

There are all sorts of caveats attached to this, so to see more detail go to: http://www.resource.uk.com/article/Latest/Zero_Waste_Race_local_authority_residual_league_table

Cornwall "Local Social Enterprise Partnership"

There has been much talk in the press this week about the LEP and plans for developing it...but I've seen little mention of how it's going to link with the Big Society so far.

If the Coalition is serious about Big Society and its role in shaping the future, then surely its central to our economy.

For me that means the "E" in LEP is even more important because it directly relates to "Social ENTERPRISE".

We must ensure that Social Enterprise is a core part of the LEP and I hope you'll support this by letting the decision makers know that this is the case...if we don't include Social Enterprise at the strategic level then the Big Society is not achievable...this is not an opportunity to be missed.

Cloudy with meatballs....

2010 was a year of benign weather following the extremes of the stormy recession in prior years....

With the outlook unpredictable for 2011 we perhaps need to reflect on how well many of us have come through the last 2 years of heavy weather. Surely they have taught us that we're a resourceful bunch that can, when push comes to shove, come up with solutions, many of which are simple and cost neutral.

So what will 2011 have in store for social enterprise.

First things first....it's going to be challenging. In the ReZolve Dictionary, that's a positive word meaning.."exciting" "full of promise" "tiring, but in a good way" and "asking us to do more with less".

Secondly there's going to be much uncertainty. In the ReZolve Thesaurus that's a word with a host of variations..."moving the goal posts" "shifting sands" "herding cats" "backward shoulder gazing".

Finally, it's definitely going to be full of opportunity...if you're prepared to think outside the proverbial regular quadrilateral.

Referring to the ReZolve Operational Manual, actions arising from an opportunity will involve..."ridiculous ideas from the CEO" "much consternation as everyone tries to understand these ridiculous ideas" "hours of wondering how on earth we'll make the ridiculous idea happen" "much back slapping when said ridiculous idea pulls off" (or a small proportion of said ideas come off, more of a scatter gun approach)

In all seriousness, and the above is quite serious, this year has much to offer, and Cornish Social Enterprises have much to offer 2011. When the outlook is bleak, our creative services and alternative financial models make us intriguing wet weather gear. We can help those in need to get back on the ladder, we can help protect the environment which has a zero value to many and is open to abuse and we do it with multiple outcomes and adding huge value locally.

These "extreme" opportunities are going to come thick and fast and as a sector we need to react to them, together, in partnership, for a better chance of making them work for the people of Cornwall and further afield.

Before you know it we're going to get hit by the perfect storm of EU and Mainstream funding colliding in the upper atmosphere, the Work Programme will drop out of this and Prime Providers will also take on the European Social Fund/DWP element as a result, Council contracts will start to change opening up a range of contracting options, the Regional Growth Fund will interest weather experts and changes to the Criminal Justice System should provide interesting sub-contracting opportunities, paid by results. With significant rainfall expected after the VAT change and budget cuts likely to threaten the tidal walls of many charities it's no wonder the Transition Fund has been created to sure up defences and protect the vulnerable.

So a real mixed bag...but all opportunities to do things better, more efficiently and with more people.

So to summarise, the outlook for 2011:

"Stormy but with a good chance of prolonged sunny spells...for those prepared to brave the conditions!"

Back to business...

After a week of flu and I don’t mind telling you it was real flu, not man flu, it’s back to business and this week promises to be an important watershed for the Cornwall Voluntary Sector.  With the new VSF Council Commissioning Board set to meet for the first time, finally we have a strategic level input in to the future of Cornwall and hopefully some real influence over what happens for the people of Cornwall.

The Commissioning Board is to my knowledge fairly unique across the country and brings together public and voluntary sector leaders to discuss key services that help people and community.  The Board is arranged across 10 themes that range from social care to social enterprise and each theme has both a senior commissioning representative from the council and a senior theme lead from the Voluntary Sector with the Cornwall VSF providing vital oversight and scrutiny.

The aim of the group is to bring consistency to commissioned services, ensure clear communication routes and to provide a forum for innovative services to be developed.  It is the last objective that is so exciting…whilst there are clearly immediate concerns about ensuring vital services are maintained to those in most need, and this will be the immediate priority of the Board, there is also a huge opportunity to discuss and develop innovative ideas around future direction for Cornwall which could and should involve social enterprise at the heart of this delivery.

So I can’t wait for the inaugural board meeting with the council so we can really get stuck in…

As if one momentous meeting in a week wasn’t enough, on Friday we see the first major Work Programme get together….

This jamboree will undoubtedly take the form of informal speed dating, trying to match up Prime Providers (national organisations who will win the right to manage the Government’s Workless agenda) with delivery organisations (the one’s on the ground doing the work to get people back in to employment).  This type of speed dating is pretty basic and doesn’t exactly engender partnership working, as it tends to be a survival of the fittest and who can get to the front of the queue first…so I’m hoping that Cornish partners will work together and use their experience of partnership working on projects like Cornwall Works, to really sell what Cornwall can do.  

In fact we’ve got to do that, or the people who need us most could risk losing the services and programmes that they have benefitted from.  Although some question the level of EU funding we have had, this is where it has made a real difference, because Cornwall has been able to try things out that otherwise would not be fundable, in doing that it means we’ve created some really interesting and innovative delivery that often get’s better results than mainstream provision can on its own, and this is all down to added value….being able to link up with other programmes and partners to deliver multiple outcomes…if we’re lucky, mainstream Prime Providers will see the benefit of working with partners delivering on EU programmes in Cornwall because of the added value it can bring to their work…we’ll see!

So by the end of this week, we’ll have some sense of direction on Public Sector Commissioning and on how the Work Programme will go forward…big week!

 

 

Jon Rolls

Chief Executive

W: http://www.rezolve.org.uk

 

 

 

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